OUTSIDE RAVENSCRAG CASTLE

OUTSIDE RAVENSCRAG CASTLE

RAVENSCRAG CASTLE AREA

The castle Ravenscrag gets its name from the large number of ravens that made their home in the wooded hills surrounding it. There are still thousands of ravens left. The rest have found new homes where the land is not dry and rocky; where life is easier. The river that ran by the castle has dried up. The once lush trees that lined it are old and sickly now. Their leafless branches are brittle and greyish.

Outdoor Map of Area
ROADS

The marked roads here are almost imperceptible. They were never paved, and the rain and wind and scrub growth, (the only plants who thrive in this barren place) have served to hide them from all but a trained eye. A ranger or tracker needs to make the standard roll to find and follow them. They could be cleared with relative ease, as the trees have not grown back. For all purposes however, travel anywhere in this area is ROUGH terrain. If the roads are cleared (this will take 1 man hour per 10’) then travel on it is as NORMAL.

(Clearing the roads is another adventure for a druid or fighter. Many wild animals {and a few monsters} use these overgrown roads as homes and highways. Killing or removing them will take some time.)

BRIDGE

Although the river is dry now, at one time it was a deep and wide flow. Even today with the water table is very close to the surface here, but there is not enough water to flow, it is only enough to form stagnant pools which breed a particularly large breed of stinging fly. The water stopped around 150 years ago, but much silt was deposited in front of the pylons and a storm brought large sections of street stone down. The footing in the river bed is dangerously unsteady. There are areas of quicksand and pools of stagnant water are covered with thick scrub brush. Every time someone crosses the riverbed, roll off the Dry River encounter chart.

Large sections of bridge between the massive supports have fallen away. The gaps vary in size from 20 feet broken to 60’ broken. The party must find a way to deal with this if they wish to avoid the perils of the riverbed. There are several large trees around, but most will be too brittle to support the weight of even one person. Roll % per hour/per group searching. 10% or less and a suitable tree is found. During this time roll 1d6 for an encounter once per 2 hours. Use the Outside encounter chart for the type of encounter. It will require a Master of the Stonemasons guild to repair the damage to this bridge.

The entrance to the castle is defended by a great portcullis which is currently home to a Troll. This troll is adept at finding the salamanders that thrive in the riverbed, but he is afraid of the castle and will not enter. As a result he has no treasure, and wants some bad. He will bargain with the party to allow them to pass for at least 1 silver piece each. He will start by asking for 1 gp each, and come down if they seem to get nasty.

Troll

HP 30 HD 6+6 AC 4 Treasure None 3 Attacks 1d4+4X2,2d6

Regenerates 3HP per round - 9’ tall - CE - Drowned body gray w/pale spots

River Encounters

(There is an adventure here if the party does decide to make this their base of operations. Something is damming the water upstream and must be removed if the castle is to house enough people to be "comfortable". Giant Beavers?)

Swarm of Flys - The flys will swoop down on the party and sting them until all of the swarm have had a taste of their blood. Roll 1d20 for the number of flys. Each has 1 HP and is considered a 1HD monster for hitting. Each does 1 HP of damage, the flys off to digest its lunch.

Water Pool - This can be nothing more than a cold dunking, or it can be deadly. When this encounter is indicated, roll 1d30 to determine the depth of the hole. Only those in the front line will have a chance to go in. A successful roll of ½ DEX will prevent a wetting. Those with armor and no swimming skills might drown if not aided.

Mud slide/Quicksand - The mud is thick enough to hold a person up for a while, but any hesitation will allow the mud to stick to a person. Roll 1d6 for each person walking through the mud 100’. A 1 means the person has paused and will begin to sink. As others help him, they too may become stuck. While there is little chance that a party will suffer much damage from this, it could be deadly to a single player. Use the mud rules in the WSG page 82.

Poisonous Snakes - 1d6 in number, 2HD

Alligator Family - 6 in number, Very hungry. HD 3 AC 5 MOVE 6"

2 Attacks 2d4-1d12 8-15’ long, olive green

1-10 2-17 3-7 4-8 5-10 6-15

Sharp Rock - Some of the shards of stone from the bridge come off in sharp chunks. A player who falls on one of these (roll random from party) will take 1d4 of damage. A ST at ½ DEX will save.

Lizard Men - These are members of a hunting party who are using the river bed as a road. They live far down stream, but are in a hostile mood (-20% to reaction roll). They are not using weapons. Number 1d12. HD 2+1 AC 5(4)

Move 6" 3 attacks 1d2x2-1d8 May flee to water hole

1-10 2-6 3-14 4-6 5-5 6-7

7-5 8-9 9-14 10-13 11-16 12-17

Treasure:

JADE WORTH 190gp PEARL WORTH 70gp CORAL WORTH 90gp IRON PYRITE WORTH 40gp

JADE WORTH 40gp OPAL WORTH 250gp CRYSTOPRASE WORTH 300gp OPAL

WORTH 255gp 12 thumbs - 6 selunes

Kodron Village

This place is still inhabited by a tribe of savage humans living at the lowest end of the technological spectrum. They are hunter/gatherers who have not stooped to cannibalism, but who have few other social graces. They may become the friends of the party if they are approached the right way, but they could become a constant danger if they are enraged or insulted.

They enjoy their solitude, but will tolerate neighbors if necessary. Trade

goods or gems can befriend them or they will be glad to trade fish or game

for steel. The village is located on the western shore of the dry river,

about half way between the castle and Martinsburg. It is surrounded by a

10’ wall made of evenly spaced debarked trees about 1’ in diameter. It

consists of 14 mud huts. The chief’s hut is (as expected) the largest and

is in the center of the circular wall of trees. Inside the wall are dogs,

chickens, and pig running freely. The children are hidden when strangers

appear, and most of the women disappear into their huts. The men will

cluster near the only entrance through the log wall, bristling with spears

and arrows. The chief of the village is named Kanutee and is assisted in

running the tribe by the Shaman Magdar. The chief is a 3^rd level fighter,

and the shaman is level 4. There are 10 other warriors living here. They

carry wooden shields and helms made of turtle shells making them

AC 8. 4 1^st Level A - 8 HP B - 7 HP C - 10 HP D - 6 HP

AC 7 6 2^nd Level E-12 HP F-15 HP G-13 HP H-16 HP

I - 14 HP J-17 HP

Martinsburg

It should be arranged so that the party will arrive at the dry river just at sunset. Remember: atmosphere is everything in this dungeon. Make everything dark and dreary, if not outright frightening. There is a 1 in 6 chance of someone seeing the light made by the Hermit from Martinsville shining in the night. If they investigate, the Hermit will hear them coming 90% of the time, and he will hide. There is no way the party will find him in the dark. He will keep to his hiding place for a day and another night before resuming his nocturnal activities. In the castle’s heyday, this was a bustling village on the banks of the river. Now it is a ghost town with nothing but a few ivy grown ruins to show it was ever there. The docks are now nothing more than rotting timbers that rise from the silt of the riverbed 10’ overhead. A few worm eaten timbers still join some of the dock timbers together, but it would be treacherous walking. The only thing of value here is a diamond ring that slipped of the finger of one of the towns women to fall into the river mud. This will be found on a roll of 20% per person per hour searched. This small village was once surrounded by a wall made of upraised logs from 6 to 8 feet high. Now, most have fallen or rotted, but a few still rise like gaunt fingers from the ground. The wall was guarded by six stone guardhouses 12 feet high. Two of these have fallen, (marked with an x) but the rest still stand. They are covered with thick clinging vines that almost hide the dark gray color of the local rock they were made from.

Guard Towers

A) Home to pigeon families

B) Still standing, but will collapse if more than 2 people try to walk around on the upper floor. Those trapped inside when it falls take 2d20 points of damage. A roll vs DEX reduces damage by ½. There is nothing of interest except a Owl’s nest here.

C) Smells damp and putrid inside. This is because a black pudding has made its home here, close to

the moisture from the canal. It has become rather a pet of the hermit who

feeds it his garbage. As a result, it will not attack immediately. It will

hesitate a round until it determines the party are not it’s friend. Then it

will attack! HD 10 HP 15 AC 6 Move 6" Attacks 1 Damage 3d6 Gray white in

color There is a bag of coins hidden in a tin box beneath a loose stone

near the door of the top room. 20sp - 15gp - 2pp

D) Empty

E) Fallen

F) Fallen

CITY BUILDINGS

1) Temple of Eldath - This temple still stands due to the cunning way the river stone was fitted together. It is empty; all the religious artifacts were removed when the priests abandon this place. The door has been left closed, so there is not as much debris inside as most of the other buildings. Some murals show pictures of a waterfall plunging into a still pool, a beautiful woman smiling beckoningly from within a mountain stream, a drowning man reaching up to grab a feminine had stretched out to him from the darkness over his head.

2) Temple of ....

Just to give some motivation to the various members of the party there will be places like this one that allow the DM to fill in the necessary information. This will be a temple of the parties cleric, as long as that is not to unlikely given the bucolic nature of the village. Invent trapping as necessary, but nothing of value or significance to be found here.

3) A wooden building that has collapsed on itself. This was the "general store" and some misc. items of small value (nothing over 5 sp) can be found if the timbers are removed. It is currently the home of a pack of giant rats. These rats will not attack unless the timbers are disturbed.

4) Scribes office. Nothing of this place remains except a stone foundation.

5) Chandlers. This building burned. There is nothing but a slight depression in the ground and a few candle molds to mark is place. There is a hole filled with a brown strange smelling substance. This is the slag of impurities removed from the candle wax. It could easily be used to create candles if string is available.

6,7,8) A Inn/Saloon complex. Only the massive stone fireplace that separates 7 from 8 is still standing. The rest is rotting timbers. The second floor of the inn has fallen into the floor below. Nothing of value.

9) Communal tool storage. Only a shovel, a pick with one end intact, a scythe and a few hand trowels remain. A mole has made the earth floor of this room into a piece of Swiss cheese.

10) Blacksmith forge. The back half of this building is made of stone, and thought it is listing forward from the plumb, it is still up. The wood frame of the house is completely gone, and burn marks on the stone lead one to believe that a fire took place here. Some blacksmith tools (broken or bent) still can be found under the hard packed black soot that forms the floor.

11) The Well. This is perhaps the most important feature of this place.

It is still running and providing sweet clean water year round. A half circle of shops used to surround it, but only the rear wall they all shared remains. Still this wall forms a wind break that has prevented the stones lining the well to become covered up with debris.

12,13) Dock Master and Stables. Sawdust and splinters remain of the most seen buildings of the town. Nothing of use, nothing of interest. Dung remains reveal that the stables held cows as well as horses.

14) Unknown rubble and wood pulp.

15,16) Money Changers, Jewelers. These two buildings have been even more completely destroyed by time than the rest. They were a money changers flowing Black River has undercut the bank and in this area, the wall has slid into the water and the buildings have followed. The river widens here and forms a small pool. A giant crayfish makes its home here.

It is a recent arrival and has no treasure, but it will taste delicious! It

will not attack unless one of the party members gets into the water. Giant

Crayfish - HD 3 HP 15 AC 4 Move 4/16" 2 Attacks 1d6/1d6

17) Sheriff’s office. The sheriff was the tax master and justice of the peace. Attached to this building are a couple of cells used to house prisoners. As all are made of stone they are still standing, but the ceilings have collapsed. The stout door and heavy stone make this the most secure building left. Although it is empty, it’s strength will make fighters and tacticians see it as a secure refuge. It will take 20 man hours to clear the rubble out, and 30 man hours to replace the fallen ceilings with river rushes.

18) Inn and Tavern. Completely destroyed by time and rot. Only mounds of wood pulp and support timbers outline the original dimensions of these buildings.

19) Residence of the Sheriff. This is a stone building with a river stone fireplace. The ceiling has collapsed, and there is a slight tilt to the wooden floor which is much rotted and dangerous. This is where the hermit lives. He has nothing of value (intentionally). All that can be found are a handmade clay bowl, a piece of sharpened sword blade mounted in a piece of drift wood, and a gold piece covered in strange runes. The runes were carved by a madman and mean nothing to any sane person, but they are finely drawn deep into the gold. Of all the places in the village, this one looks the most homey. There is no logical reason for this, but it is so. If no party member remarks on it then an NPC will mention what a nice place

this would be if it were fixed up a bit. There is nothing of value here.

The Mound The Black river forks just before it flows into the river bed of the Great River. The place where it forks has been reinforced with stone piled up high. The stone was then covered with a layer of river mud dredged from the area of the docks. On top of this mound is a ruined fort. The fort was made of thick timbers of wood pounded into the earth like the wall that surrounds the town. These supports would have made fine thick masts so fine is the quality of the wood and a Spell of Stone was cast on them. These cross bars that form the framework still remain, although the enclosing woodwork has fallen away. It is a gaunt, haunting skeleton with mounds of debris underneath. The only exciting thing inside is the remains of two ballista. While the wood supports are turned to flakes, the steel bar that throws the spear, while rusted, retains it’s temper.

LONELY ISLE

This island is formed from a gigantic piece of granite left here by the glacier that formed the river valley. It is large enough to split the stream of the Black river around it. This forms a depression from erosion and has widened the banks of the river considerably. Although now it is bleak and forbidding, at one time this was a garden of grass and wild flowers. Even the banks were maintained by the invisible servant of the mage who made his home here. In the middle of the isle stands a three story tower. The ceiling, and the floors inside have come crashing to the ground. Anything of value that might have been inside has been destroyed. Markings around the doors and windows indicate that this was once a home to a mage of some power. It stands now a lonely finger of gray granite rising from the midst of the river. Under the rubble of the fallen floors there is a trap door in the stone floor. This leads to a small dungeon area used by the mage for his most dangerous experiments an spells.

There is a cistern passage running from the castle to the dungeon under this tower. The passage is almost blocked with silt from the river, but it can be opened from either side.

1) Forge Room - It seems the mage who built this place (Rabeltom) was a glass worker and made all his own glass apparatus. He must have dabbled in potion making as well to judge from the types of glass found and the frequency with which potions are found in the lower area. The western wall has a large fire pit with a flue that led through the rock and outside. The chimney is clogged now. There are 5 empty bottles for potions found, along with some glass wear that only a potion maker could use. Though this room is partially filled with mud leaking from the flue, with work it could be made into a laboratory again.

2) Animal Cages - There is no clue other than scratches in the rotting wood to tell what was in these cages. One cage held giant rats, one held a huge bird of some sort, and the other two have no scratches. Only regular

rats make their home here now.

3) Torture Chamber - Crumbling wooden

doors with large iron hinges cover both entrances, and the heavy locks on both are still functional. Rabeltom was not a good mage. This is proved by this room which is fitted with manacles on the wall and a brass brazier which still contains rods with wooden handles. There is a platform in the center of the room which has iron cuffs and chains mounted at wrist and ankle positions. A open link of chain allows the length to be adjusted to stretch a person out. A heavy sledge hammer leans ominously against the wall nearby. Blood stains can be seen if the platform is closely examined. These stains are at the positions were the wrist and knees would be.

4) An empty store room with deteriorated shelves. Empty.

5) Sleeping room of the mages apprentice. This room has a bed, table, oil lamp, chair desk, trunk and bench inside. The trunk is locked and has a magic mouth spell cast on it that says "If you value life, open not this chest". Other than this, the trunk is unprotected. Inside are moldering clothes and a leather sling shot. A cracked leather bag holds a dozen lead sling stones. This room contains nothing more.

6) Entrance to Dungeon - A ten foot high tunnel leads to a trap door in the floor of the ground level tower. This door is impassable unless the debris that blocks the upper floor is cleared. This will take some time as the upper 2 floors and ceiling have crashed down here. There are no footprints in this area at all. It has remained intact.

7) A Common Room - The south east corner of the room is a huge fireplace, large enough to heat the rest of the complex. A 3’ thick chimney leads outside, but is blocked with the body of a wolf that long ago, fell in the hole while chasing a rabbit who also fell in. The remains of the rabbit still lie in the NW corner. There are two disintegrating chairs near the fireplace, and a scroll case along the north wall holds illegible personal correspondence. A small dining table is in the center of the room and three high backed wooden chairs stand around it. None of the furniture is usable; they will fall apart if weight is placed on them.

8) This is the study. Most of the walls are lined with scroll tubes of leather, and so most are rotten. Only a few of the scrolls survive and of them only 2 have any value. The first is a scroll of Detect Magic which was mistakenly placed among the mundane scrolls, and a map showing the connection between the tower dungeon and the Castle. It includes enough of the first level of the Castle dungeon to get them to the surface there with the least distance traveled. It will take lots of time to look in all the scroll tubes to find these. If a detect magic is cast, it will reveal the scroll but not the map. Roll 10% per hour per person to find one or the other.

9) This room leads to the cistern connecting the castle to this tower.

It is guarded by Stone Golem constructed by Rabletom. It was his

crowning achievement. It still functions and has prevented robbers and

monsters from getting in for these 400 years of abandonment. The bodies of

3 zombies and a few wild animals lie here. A human skeleton once clothed in

bright colors lies crumbling in the southeast corner. If searched, a fine

topaz ring worth 250gp can be found on its finger. This skeleton has no

backpack.

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<- Off to Castle ^

| Passage Cave In

Village at the Ford

The village at the ford were once the home of the Winewykle family. It was founded in the days of Kin Alexis in the hope that this would become a stop on the way to Martinsburg. This did not wok out. The family was forced to rely on subsistence farming to survive. So the areas on both of the river banks still show evidence of cultivation. The only other remains of this place are the blackened stumps of the wooden buildings built here. A great fire consumed them all in one great conflagration. Nothing of value survived the flames. All the family survived except a baby only 16 months old. The cries of the baby can still be heard from 2:20 to 2:45 every night. An exorcism will stop the sound.

Druadic Stone Temple

The Holy Circle of Sylvanus has been abandon since the castle fell, and has been regarded as "taboo" by both the people of Martinsville and Modron, and has not been desecrated by either. A party of passing orcs did their worst here once several hundred years ago, but only faint remains of their insults still show. The circle consists of twenty monolithic stone blocks standing upright in pains, each spanned by a third stone in the manner of Stonehenge. The Circle is 500’ in circumference and 160’ in diameter. There is a large stone in the center of the circle.

This large stone has split into two pieces. This is the Holy Altar Stone of the Black River devoted to Sylvanus. Virgins were sacrificed here every year that the village existed, but it has been 150 years since the last. This circle glows with faint fairy fire every new moon. It is visible from the castle top, but is hidden by trees from being seen from the village or river.

Featherwine Inn

In better days, this was a wonderful Inn. It is built to look like a large hunting lodge. Hunting trophies line the walls of the common room, and each room had a carpet of animal skins. Now all is corrupt.

Room 1-1 North-West Tower

This room has a circular table in the center of the room with four chairs around it. The table is made of heavy walnut and the chairs match it. They have purple cushions. In the south part of the room visible only after entering it. On the western wall is a staircase leading to the rooms above. There is an iron banister along the stair. Two rounds after the party enters the room a winged being will fly down the stairway and hover for a while watching them. If they give it no instructions, it will fly to the fireplace and perch on the mantle. It will not make any threatening actions.

The towers of the Inn were mostly reserved for visiting dignitaries and permanent residents. There are no permanent residents now (in a human sense). This was set up as a sitting room. The entrance to the room extends into the room and forms part of a fireplace that faces to the west. There is a rotting couch facing the fireplace. 1 GP, 2 SP and a copper will be found in the cushions; fallout from the pockets of a previous guest. The only current resident is a Homonculous. The Homonculous was instructed to stay in this place by the Mage that lived in this tower rent free for 10 years. This mage used the tower as a research laboratory, but that was some time ago. There are no traces of his stay now other than the beast he left behind as payment. It was instructed to serve anyone staying in the room. It will fetch objects, clean up, serve meals brought into the room, ect. This creature has been on its own since the Inn was abandon and has been supporting itself by catching night birds as they sleep. It is deathly sick of eating ravens, and will serve the party and even follow them if offered regular food. It has no intelligence and cannot speak. It will not harm the party in any way, and even if they don’t feed it it will follow simple instructions that are given clearly in common tongue. If the party begin to break up the furnishings or vandalize the room in any way, it will try to bite them, but it will not harm them in a permanent way.

The creature was created by a neutral good mage and if there is a mage in the party of that allignment, it will attach itself to them. If a Summon Familiar is cast by that mage, the creature will respond automatically and it will become the familiar of that mage.

Room 2-1 Second floor of North-West Tower

There is nothing of much interest in this room. A bed is in the mddle of the room, a chest of drawers with a mirror is on the north wall and a wardrobe on the south wall. They are all empty; awaiting the next occupant. A spell has been cast on the mirror that will enhance the appearance of anyone looking into it. It will hide any scars, deepen the color of a person eyes, put a rosy glow in the cheeks ect. It has no effect other than this illusion.

This is the lower bedroom of the tower suite. There are no encounters here.

Room 3-1 Top Floor of North-West Tower

This room is similar to the one below. There is a bed, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe here. The difference is the shuttered window that faces the setting sun. On the bottom of the wardrobe (no doubt forgotten by the last tenant) is a Mink bola. Other than these things, the room is empty.

Room 1-7

A brown bear has made the large its home here. It regards the entire place as its home, and will defend its territory.

Brown Bear HD 5+5 HP 28 Move 12" 3 Attacks Damage 1d6x2/1d8

The second level of the fetherwine inn is devoted to taking care of the mistress of the ruler of the castle. She was present at the castle at the time the curse was pronounced and shares in the effects of this curse. As she was tangental to the life of the castle somehow she retains much of her intelegence, and can help the party learn about what went on there so many years ago.